


Roommates

by masochistfox



Category: Purple (Video Game 2018), The Phobia Project (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Mental Hospital, feel good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:13:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29151042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masochistfox/pseuds/masochistfox
Summary: Stephan Burns meets a new friend at the hospital
Relationships: Friends - Relationship, Friendship - Relationship
Kudos: 2





	Roommates

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off Randall and Stephan's relationship pre-purple/Pre-phobia. Stephan burns is lunchmeat before phobia

Latex, rubbing alcohol, bleach, all the familiar smells Stephan had grown used to by this point. He wished it could be a comforting smell, but all it did was remind him that he was here, at the hospital, and not home where he was safe. 

Well... Safer than this.

As the time clicked by on the sterile wall clock in his observation room he tried to wrack his brain as best he could to remember what set it off this time. It was hard enough leaving the house, but he really believed he could this time. Everything was even going well, he was at the library, there wasn't many people, it was... safe.

Yet still he could remember his heart rate picking up, the sweat forming against his brow, that uncomfortable tingling sensation he would get in his fingers and toes. He could hear the muttering around him when he collapsed on the floor and the sting of another persons skin when they came too close.

He shook his head roughly shaking the thought out, it was too much too fast and he was looking at a long night. His head leaned back against the disposable paper on the bed, his body shuddering when the thought of all the germs this thin piece of paper could be harboring on just the other side. He stiffened his back and forced himself to try to relax, to just try to get some sleep.

Body straight... steady your breathing... close your eyes... count as to a number that you will never reach... sleep...

\-----

His eyes fluttered open at the sound of the door opening, a tall, stoic man making his way into the room to stand before him. Stephan tried to take in every inch of the doctor's visage; Glasses, long, brown hair, tied back in a low hanging ponytail, strange, orange eyes glinting every so often under his glasses. He seemed... nice, but "nice" meant nothing to a man who is afraid of everyone.

"Alright, Stephan..." the man's voice was smooth, but firm, like an authoritative lecturer "We have a room open for you now." He rustled a few of the papers in his hands, though it appeared mostly for show "I know it goes against the recommendations in your chart, but I've decided to place you in a room with another of our patients. I'm sure you'll both get along." Stephan felt as if his heart was going to leap from his chest, the thought of not only staying in a bedroom that wasn't his own, but now he has to share it with a stranger? A stranger that will most certainly kill him if given the chance?

He fumbled with the words as he tried to find them, anything he could say to argue that he would prefer to be alone or to go home, but the man had already begun to turn around, ignoring any and all of his attempts at pleading. The door slammed and he was alone again... But he knew he wouldn't be for long. 

\-------

The doctor guiding him down the long, winding hospital halls seemed much nicer than the last doctor he spoke with, his soft, orange hair bouncing as he walked, turning ever so often to make sure Stephan was still following behind and flashing him a sweet, toothy smile. Stephan kept noticing his interesting teeth, he'd never seen anyone with quite the same mouth before with two sharper than normal fangs accompanied in the middle by his large front teeth. Stephan couldn't help but think he looked almost like a cute, orange rat. 

"Sorry this place is so big, Steve... Oh... I hope Steve is ok. Or do you prefer Stephan?" this doctor's voice was much more inviting, smooth and rich with the slightest English accent. Stephan shook his head, though he forgot to speak any words out loud, instead focusing far more intensely on the hospital blanket in his arms. He had requested an extra blanket because he was always so used to the frigid air in his own home, but now he was realizing it may be too hot in here for it. 

The man in front of him stopped abruptly almost causing him to bump into him. Stephan was relieved he didn't, he doubted he could take his usual 3 showers after contact here. "Well, here's your room! I believe Mr. Purpura is already asleep." The doctor could see the hesitant look on Stephan's face at that remark and smiled supportingly "Oh, don't worry about waking him, he's pretty out of it now. He had a bit of an outburst earlier today so we had to give him something to calm him down. He should be fast asleep until morning." the doctor's words didn't help much, but it was enough to get him through the door. 

The room was dark, the light's were switched off for the night and he wasn't about to turn them on right now. He carefully crept to his side of the room and placed his blanket gently against the foot of it before sitting down. The creaking of the old mattress startling him and he held his breath and carefully glanced at the other bed. He could see the shape of someone curled up under the blanket and what looked like choppy, purple-ish hair sticking out of the top and resting against the pillow. Thankfully it looks like he hasn't moved so Stephan finished bringing his feet up onto the bed and tucking himself under the sheets, trying his best not to panic about the germs and disease it was most likely harboring.

'Alright' Stephan thought to himself 'Just... try to sleep..."

Body straight... steady your breathing... close your eyes... count as to a number that you will never reach... sleep...

"You're going to die here, you know." The sudden voice startled him and he jolted upright in his bed, his eyes darting around the room til they finally stopped on the other bed. The other man had shifted now, his front facing him, though the only parts visible were his dark, choppy bangs and his piercing brown eyes through the small opening in the blanket. "They poisoned me, but I know it... I know you'll die. We're all going to." the voice sent chills down his spine and he wanted him to stop, it's almost like the other man knew what would scare him the most so he turned his body over and faced the wall, keeping his back turned to the other man. He could hear weak, but cruel laughter sneaking past the stranger's lips and he tried his best to block it out, just keep repeating your mantra and he'll stop.

Body straight... steady your breathing... close your eyes... count as to a number that you will never reach... sleep...

Body straight... steady your breathing... close your eyes... 

Body straight... 

Sleep...

\------

The sun shining through the hospital window managed to shine directly into Stephan eye, making him grumble and cover his face with his hand. Wait... This texture... This smell... He suddenly bolted upright and the memory of where he was slowly sunk in. He through his feet over the side of the bed and grumbled to himself, he wished they would just let him go home, it's not like anyone got seriously hurt, he was just having a panic attack, why can't his boyfriend just pick him up.

Wait... His boyfriend... He suddenly remembered how he got here, it was Luis... He wanted him to try to leave again, he pushed him and you lashed out at him, you told him you hated him, you told him you were better off alone. Stephan sighed and rubbed his eyes, why is he always so stupid? "Luis probably really does hate me now..." He said out loud, he didn't know why he put up with him for as long as he did anyway, though he also wished he could just be happy indoors like him.

He opened his eyes again and this time he realized the man across the room was gone, his bed left in an untidy mess, a small black book resting against the pillow. He carefully walked across the room and examined the bed further, he figured the man wasn't GONE gone, he wouldn't have left his book if he was so he must be in the rec room. The next thing he noticed were the huge sweat stains covering the pillow and the sheets. It made Stephan's stomach turn and he had to turn away. 

The sudden knocking on the door startled him out of his nausea and he watched as the door creaked open to reveal another doctor he hadn't seen before "Hello, Mr. Burns. It's already noon, we've allowed you to sleep in today due to it being your first night and having arrived rather late, but you will not receive that luxury for the rest of your stay. Please gather yourself and go to the recreations room.".

Stephan took in this new man's appearance from his neatly combed, orange hair, to his glasses and ice blue eyes, to his strange taste in fashion choices. "Ah.. I'd rather just... Stay in my room if that's alright." Stephan crossed his fingers hoping he could just stay in, the less people he has to communicate with the better. 

He could see the annoyance behind the other man's glasses before he even opened his mouth "Hmm... So you would rather stay in your room than get healthy exercise and stimulation? Alright, I suppose I could just go cancel activities for all of the patients because YOU want to stay in, is that alright with you?" Stephan felt sick to his stomach, he knew this kind of guilt tactic, he remembered it from his mother all too vividly and he pushed back his tears, shaking his head and exiting the safety of his room.

\------

The recreation room wasn't as loud as he was expecting, but still far too loud for his tastes as he walked along the edge of the room, his eyes searching helplessly for an empty table far enough away from others. As he was looking his eyes met with another man's, a man who was sitting alone at the farthest table near the window, his light brown eyes lighting up as if he knew him.

He waved Stephan over shyly, it looked like his arm didn't have too much mobility due to the bandages wrapping them. Stephan slowly made his way over and sat across from him, bringing his knees to his chest awkwardly. "Hey! Sorry... I hope I'm not being too forward... I've never actually asked anyone to sit with me like this so I don't really know the etiquette for it..." His voice was shaky, but calming, Stephan actually didn't feel as afraid of him, something he had only felt with Luis before.

"Oh... It's... Ok... I don't really like other people... I try not to leave the house, there's too many people and... Disease..." Stephan rubbed his arms nervously, he knew he probably looked crazy to this guy, but he knew he was right, for the most part. "My... My name's Stephan..." It felt awkward introducing himself, he hadn't had to in so long it felt almost foreign.

The other man just smiled, he looked... relieved? "Oh, I understand... I mean, I'm sure you have your reasons, but I know what it's like to be scared." Stephan cracked a slight smile back, maybe this guy was ok. "I mostly waved you over because... Well, we're going to be sharing a room now, right? We should get to know each other a bit. I'm Randall." That's when it clicked, suddenly Stephan noticed his dark, purple-ish black hair and he recognized those dark eyes that were peering up at him through the covers, he remembered the chilling voice and the promise of death. He could feel his pulse rising and he wanted to get out of here but he felt frozen in place as the other man kept talking "I'm sorry I was gone this morning... They make me get up pretty early to eat and take my pill and stuff. I wanted to say hi, but you were sound asleep."

Does he not remember what he said? He acting so casual right now! Stephan's mind raced as he tried to figure the other man out and he finally worked up the courage to ask "Y...Y-you talked to me last night... Do you remember...?" His voice cracked, the fear in his gut building inside him, making him fell trapped like an animal.

"O-oh? I... I'm sorry, I don't remember that..." The other man seemed genuine is his confusion as Stephan watched him try to wrack his brain for the memory "Well... I know they tell me I miss a lot of time... And I know they've tried setting me up with roommates before but it never works out... I can never remember why though. I'm surprised they put you in my room to be honest, it's been a couple months, or so it say's in my diary.".

'Oh great, an amnesiac weirdo...' Stephan thought 'He's probably going to kill me in my sleep and he won't even remember doing it...' The other man noticed Stephan beginning to sweat, his eyes seeming far off in space so he gently pushed a few playing cards towards him, snapping his out of his thoughts.

"Hey, do you maybe wanna play cards with me? I don't know any of the confusing ones, but we can play go fish or something." Stephan watched as The other man tried his best to shuffle the cards, occasionally dropping one or two out of the pile and quickly putting it back in and shuffling again. He started relaxing a bit watching the man struggle so much and considered maybe it was just a bad night for him? "Ok, I think I can do this, hang on... watch..." Randall placed his thumbs carefully on the sides of the deck and tried to press them together in an attempt to shuffle them together, only for the cards to slip out and fly everywhere around him. "Oh... " Randall looked around the floor at all the cards littering the ground and laughed a little to himself "Well... I guess it's 52 card pick up." Stephan chuckled awkwardly back, his smile creeping further along his cheeks and feeling tight, he hadn't smiled like this in a long time.

Stephan watched as Randall crawled along the floor, picking up each card and placing it on the table, he felt a little guilty he wasn't helping him, but he just couldn't bring himself to touch the dirty floor like this. Eventually, Randall finished up his card collecting and sat back up onto the chair, his hand rubbing at his bandaged neck tenderly. "What... What happened?" Stephan found himself blurting out, angry at himself for not keeping his comment inside.

"Huh...?" Randall looked at him and then down "Oh! This... I'm not sure actually, I woke up in here with this, apparently I got a neck fracture? The skin was also cut from something so this is to keep the wound clean and safe. My fracture's already mostly healed at least, so I can almost move my head again, heh..." Stephan didn't know how to respond, he just smiled awkwardly. 

They both sat in silence for a few moments, Stephan wasn't sure if he should speak or keep quiet, but as usual he opted for the latter. It was Randall that finally broke the silence, "It's nice..." Stephan looked up at him and cocked his head quizzically "Oh, I mean... Just being able to sit with someone in silence like this... There's something special about sharing the quiet with someone." Stephan stared at him, but something about it felt... Good. 

Maybe this stay wouldn't be as bad as he thought.


End file.
